Industrial production is down to 0.5% in November, the slowest since June 2017

Factory
output as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial
Production (IIP) had grown by 8.5 per cent in November 2017, as per
data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Friday.

The previous low was in June 2017, when IIP growth contracted by
0.3 per cent.

A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a growth of 4.1 per cent
for November.

November's growth was much slower than an upwardly revised 8.4 per
cent year-on-year increase in October, the data showed.

During the April-November period, industrial output grew 5 per cent
as compared to 3.2 per cent in the same period of the previous
fiscal.

The manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the
index, recorded a contraction of 0.4 per cent in November as
against a growth of 10.4 per cent a year ago.

The mining sector posted 2.7 per cent growth during the month as
against 1.4 per cent in November 2017.

Power sector output also grew by 5.1 per cent from 3.9 per cent a
year ago.

Capital goods output declined by 3.4 per cent, compared to 3.7 per
cent growth a year ago. Consumer durables output also dipped by 0.9
per cent as against a growth of 3.1 per cent a year earlier.
Consumer non-durable goods also saw a contraction of 0.6 per cent
as compared to 23.7 per cent growth a year ago.